OCCASIONAL SQUEALING NOISE

1999 Ford Ranger

Noises problem
1999 Ford Ranger 6 cyl Two Wheel Drive Automatic

Recently my Ranger started making a squealing noise similar to when the belt is worn, loose or slipping. The belt is a single serpentine belt with the spring tensioner. The belt needed replacing due to wear. After replacing the belt the squealing stopped, for a bit. Then occasionally you will hear a small squeak. I since pulled the idler pulley, and the tensioner pulleys and inspected the bearings. They both were dry and dirty and at first I cleaned and lubed the bearings to see if the problem would go away. I ended up replacing both of the pulleys. The noise seemed to get better but again it would occasionally have a small squeal, sometimes for a couple of seconds, sometime just real brief and have to really pay attention. I didn't feel any play in the water pump, and can't feel any real obvious issues from the alternator, or power steering. When the a.C. Compressor switches on and off there is not any link to the noise there either. This has an automatic transmission, but occasionally the noise reminds me of a throw out bearing. Same similar sound, but there has been an obvious improvement in decreasing the amount of noise and amount of time it squeals with the work that has been completed. Any idea what else it could be?

Wil it make the noise with the belt off? Run it for afew, not too long so you dont cook it, but see if it still does it. If so it is probably the Cam Position Sensor. It is what once was the distributor, now it has a sensor in it and they dry out the bushings and squeek like a drive belt. If you remove the cam sensor/housing be sure to mark it position, it has to go back the same way or the truck wont run or will have issues

I am not sure if I can run it long enough to ever hear it. It is one of those noises that might be there as soon as it starts, or it may run for several minutes before you hear a slight squeak. Sometimes it squeals for several seconds when it first starts. I am going to look into the sensor though. Where is it located I have been trying to find diagrams or explanation to exact location. Currently the pickup is being used so I can't physically look at it.
Thanks for your help
Randy

It is what used to be the distributor. If you can look at it, you will see what I am talking about. Sometimes you can even remove thesensor off the top, ( 2- 5.5mm screws) and fill top of the housing with oil and let it run through, this sometimes will work

Do you have to remove any components to be able to see this sensor? The only item I see similar to what I remember the distributor is the coil. There is the sensor on the by the crankshaft. I just haven't seen anything that looks like the camshaft sensor described nor the part that resembles the distributor that autozon shows, part number 689-109 or similar. Is there a chance that certain engines do not have the camshaft sensor or is it on all?